Skin
by Fyrie Mystic
Summary: After falling down, Kairi finds a bruise on her leg. This bruise doesn't seem to go away and in turn her life gets turned upside down on a dime.
1. Chapter 1

Fyrie Mystic's Note: Hey it's me again

_Fyrie Mystic's Note: Hey it's me again. The story that I am posting is going to be a couple chapters long. I hope that it isn't too long without enough action. It is a song fic to Skin by Rascal Flatts. I love this song and decided to write a story to it… (I did however change a couple words in the song to make it fit the stroy right.) It might seem to some of you that I have a thing against Kairi, but I just want to say that I love Kairi. She is one of my favorite characters, but most of my stories seem to fit her and that is why I seem to abuse her… It really isn't planned. _

_Anyway, on with the story. Oh one more thing… I am going to be putting in time markers that I hope will help clear up any confusion that might arise with the spacing of time. Also, to my knowledge, most proms occur at the end of May so is about the time the one in the story is going to take place. I really hope that the time markers help clear up the time issues that might happen._

Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the song that I used for my story.

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Skin

2nd week of April

Kairi eagerly walked down the steps of Destiny Heights High School. She couldn't wait to get home and get changed for her date that cool April night. She was opening the door to her house when she tripped over the doorstop.

"Hi Mom. I'm hom-ahh!" She yelled as she fell. Her mom came running when she heard the crash.

"Kairi, are you ok?" Her mom asked upon seeing her daughter sprawled on the floor.

"Yea, I think so." Kairi muttered while trying to free herself from her bag, which was trying to choke her.

She managed to get untangled from her bag and ran to her room to get ready. "Hmm, what do I want to wear tonight?" She muttered to herself as she turned on some music. The song that came on was 'What Do Ya Think About That' by Mongomery Gentry.

"Oh I love this song!" She screamed as she started dancing around her room. She stopped suddenly when she saw her brother standing in her doorway.

"Kairi, what are you doing?" Riku, her brother, asked, staring at his younger sister. She flashed him a bright smile. "What does it look like, Riku? I'm rockin' out!"

"I can see that, but why?" Riku laughed, his silver bangs sliding into over his eyes.

"Cause I can and its fun. You should learn to have more fun." Kairi joked while pulling her brother into a hug before spinning him around in a couple of circles with her, as she continued to "rock out".

"I do have fun." Riku tried to counter

"Reading and constantly studying does not count as fun, Riku." Kairi threw back.

Riku suddenly stopped dancing, "Kairi, you know that I love reading and one when I am smart and rich I will have fun and you will be begging to hang out with me." Riku joked.

"Ha Ha, very funny Riku. Now get out of my room so that I can get ready for my date." Kairi laughed, while pushing her brother towards the door.

"Ok. Ok. No need to be pushy. I'm going. Just remember to be careful and take your pepper spray." Riku laughed before dodging a shoe thrown in his direction.

"Now, back to what I was originally doing." Kairi sighed while rummaging through her closet.

She finally decided on a sea green faux wrap shirt, denim pencil skirt, that landed a couple of inches above her knees, and black boots that went to her knees. She had finished getting dressed and putting on her makeup when she heard her mother calling her.

"Kairi, dear, your date is here."

'I better hurry before she decides that she is going to embarrass me again,' she thought to herself while taking one last look in the mirror and grabbing her purse.

"Kairi, you better hurry up before Mom breaks out the naked baby pictures that you know she has stashed somewhere." Riku called with a joking but serious tone to his voice.

"Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" Kairi yelled while rushing down the stairs, hoping that her mother wouldn't have time to get to the pictures.

"Hey," She greeted her date. "We better get going before she gets the camera, again. You remember what happened last time; we almost never got to leave.

"Yea we better go." Her date laughed.

"Bye Mom. I'll try to be home by 1." She yelled as her and her date ran out the door.

Kairi and her date made it out of the house before her mom got a hold of a camera. She looked over at the blond haired boy as her was driving to the carnival.

"Sorry bout that Roxas." She laughed, while sitting in the passenger seat of his 1957 Ford Thunderbird.

"What is there to be sorry for?" He responded, while sneaking glances at the red-head beside him.

"For the way my family was acting. That was just so embarrassing." Kairi stated, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. My family would have acted the same if not worse. They would have been fawning all over you." Roxas said while grabbing her hand to comfort her. "You do remember that I have three sisters, right?"

Kairi laughed. "Yeah, I remember. They were really nice the last time I was over. I don't know how you survived. What are their names again?"

About this time, their car pulled into the parking lot at the carnival. They parked and Roxas helped Kairi out of the car. He gentle grabbed her hand and led her towards the entrance gate.

"Well, my oldest sister is named Tifa. She is off at training, but comes home on some weekends. She is going to make a great cop someday. Then there is Yuffie. She is basically as crazy as someone can get, but she is a blast to hang out with when she comes home from college. And then there is Namine. She is my twin, but never fails to remind me that she is exactly 2 minutes older then me. But, man can that girl draw. You should ask to see her drawings some time." Roxas boosted.

"Aww, so that makes you the baby of your family?" Kairi broke in with a giggle.

They had just finished getting their unlimited passes for all the rides at the carnival.

Roxas thought about her question for a moment, before joining her in laughing. "Yea, I guess it does, but so are you."

"Yep, it is just me and my older brother. He is also in college and plans on being an engineer. But I guess being the babies of our families just makes us perfect for each other." Kairi smiled, before playfully smacking Roxas in the arm and running off towards the bumper cars, with him close on her tail.

A couple of hours and a bunch of dizzying fun rides later, found Kairi and Roxas in the short line for the Ferris wheel. Kairi looked up at the massive metal wheel that loomed above her.

"Are you sure that thing is safe?" She asked with a death grip on Roxas' arm. He noticed a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides if it wasn't, they wouldn't have it here to ride on," Roxas stated confidently, pulling Kairi to him to comfort her.

Roxas looked at Kairi with a smirk in his bright blue eyes. "Don't tell me, you're afraid of heights?"

"Yeah, a little," was the answer he got back.

"Well, we don't have to ride it if you don't want to."

"No, its ok. People always say that the best way to conquer your fear is to face it head on. So that is what I am going to do," Kairi gulped. "I'm going to face my fear head on."

At this point, they were next in line for the ride. They crawled into the carriage and sat down next of each other. Roxas reached over and grabbed Kairi's hand as the ride slowly began to move, stopping ever so often to let people on and off. Once all of the baskets were full, the Ferris wheel kicked into its normal speed.

"Are you doing ok, Kairi?" Roxas asked the girl next to him.

"Yeah, actually I am. This is really not that bad. It's kinda fun." She replied as a smile slowly grew on her face.

"Good. I am glad that you're having fun."

"I really am," Kairi smiled as they moved closer to each other. Kairi gently leaned into Roxas and laid her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her petite frame.

All too soon the Ferris wheel started to slow down and started stopping to let people get off. But when it was their turn to get off, the Ferris wheel kept going.

"It skipped us!" Kairi stated, shocked.

"Yeah… I guess it did," Roxas laughed. "That might have something to do with the 20 dollars I slipped the operator to let us ride longer and all by ourselves."

"You did what? That is so devious, but so sweet at the same time." Kairi giggled.

They rode the Ferris wheel for at least 10 minutes in the comfortable silence that had grown between them. Finally Roxas spoke, "Hey Kairi?"

"Hmm," Kairi responded with her eyes closed.

"You know that the prom is coming up and I was wondering if you would accompany me to it."

At this, Kairi opened her indigo eyes. "Of course I will." She responded before pulling Roxas into a sweet kiss.

Getting off the Ferris wheel, Kairi grabbed Roxas' hand and pulled him close to her as they walked to his car. They didn't let go of each other's hands the entire car ride back to Kairi's house.

"This was such a fun night. I had such a great time." She smiled before giving him a quick kiss and getting out of the car and headed into her house.

Kairi changed into her pajamas and crawled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.

Roxas drove home with a wide smile on his face; he couldn't wait for the month of May to come. When he got home, he changed and got into bed, and also quickly fell asleep.

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_Author Note: Well there is chapter 1. Hope it was ok. Now off to type chapter 2..._


	2. Chapter 2

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Author Note: Well here is chapter 2

_Author Note: Well here is chapter 2. This chapter is mainly what happens during on day of the week. Hope you all enjoy it. _

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the plot…

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Skin: Chapter 2

3rd Week of April

One week later, Kairi was getting out of the shower when she noticed a large bruise on her left knee. She reached down to run her fingers delicately over it.

"Huh, I wonder how I got that bruise." She mused to herself. "Oh well, it will go away eventually."

She continued to get ready for that day of school.

"Hey Kairi," someone yelled before arms wrapped around her waist, as she walked into the school.

"Hey Roxas, how are you today?" She asked.

"Much better that you are here now," was the answer received with a kiss.

"Well as special as that makes me, we have to go to class." Kairi muttered. "We'll see each other at lunch."

"Ok, fine." Roxas pouted, before heading into his English class.

They met at lunch and then walked home together after school. They hung out at Roxas' house all afternoon and then watched movies until early in the morning. Luckily for both of them, it was a Saturday.

"Well I guess I will be heading home." Kairi stated after the last movie.

Roxas took a second to glance at the clock, on his side table, to find that it was 3:30 in the morning.

"You're not going to go anywhere Kairi. Not at 3:30 in the morning. You don't know what freaks at out at this time." Roxas exclaimed.

"I really need to go home Roxas. My family will be worried about me." Kairi worried.

"Well," Roxas thought for a moment. "You could call them and tell them that you feel that it would be safer if you just stayed here."

"You know that is a really good idea. I think that I will." Kairi agreed, before pulling out her cell to call her brother.

The phone rang a couple of times before there was a groggy answer on the other line.

"Arg Hello?" Riku grumbled.

"Hey bro." Kairi responded, trying to sound cheerful.

"Ugh, Kairi? What time is it?" Riku grumbled, trying to shake off the sleep that he had been in.

"Umm, about 3:30 in the morning." Kairi confessed.

At this, Riku's protective brotherness kicked in, and he shot upright in his bed. "WHAT? Why are you not home yet?"

"Well," Kairi groaned. "Roxas and I were watching movies and didn't realize what time it was. I was wondering if you would… umm… tell Mom that I am just going to stay here?"

"You're staying there?" Riku repeated, questionably.

"Yeah… I mean it will probably be safer then if we tried to get me home, right?" Kairi mused, hoping she was convincing.

"Fine, I'll tell Mom for you," Riku caved before getting mischievous, "but you better not be sleeping together."

"RIKU!!" Kairi gasped. "You're horrible. We won't be sleeping together."

"Whatever," Riku yawned, "I'm going back to sleep."

"Sleep good. And thanks again."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you owe me, Kairi." Riku stated.

"I know," Kairi answered. "I'll make it up to you, ok? Well, night."

"Yeah, night."

They both hung up and Kairi looked over at Roxas. "Now what?"

"Well we figure out where we are going to sleep. I think you should get my bad and I will sleep on the floor or the couch." Roxas responded.

"There is no way that I am taking your bed Roxas." Kairi tired to protest, but Roxas interrupted her.

"Kairi, you're my guest and I want you to take my bed. Besides there is no way that someone as pretty as you is going to sleep on the floor or the couch."

His comments took Kairi's breath away because no one had ever said something so sweet to her before.

"Ok," was the only response that Kairi could muster,

Roxas watched her crawl into his before he curled up on the air mattress that they had found in a closet.

"Night Kairi," Roxas whispered.

"Night Roxas," Kairi whispered back before silently inhaling the Roxas' scent from his pillow.

Morning came too soon for both of them. They woke up to Kairi's phone buzzing on the table.

"Ugh, I wonder who is calling me at 9:00 in the morning." She groaned from under Roxas' blankets.

"On a Saturday, none the less." The mound of blankets on the floor added.

"Uh, this is Kairi." Kairi groaned into the phone.

"Kairi, it's your Mom. Where are you? And why are you not home yet?"

Kairi didn't like where this was going.

"Mom, I asked Riku to tell you that I was staying at Roxas' house. Didn't he tell you?" She asked with worry flashing in her eyes.

Roxas watched her as she nervously bit her bottom lip and twirled some hair around her finger.

Suddenly there was laughter on the other end of Kairi's phone. Kairi looked at her phone and then at Roxas with confusion written all over her face.

"Kairi, honey, its ok. Your brother told me this morning. I'm glad that you were smart enough to stay there instead of walking in the dark where anyone could have taken you," her mom voiced.

"If you are happy I stayed here then what was with all the questions?" Kairi asked, still obviously confused.

"I just wondered if I could get a rise out of you. And I felt like being your mother and annoying," her mother answered. "Besides it was your brother's idea."

"Oh, he is so dead when I get home," Kairi growled.

"Well good luck with that." Her mom laughed. "Speaking of you getting home, what time do you think that you might get home? Try to be home by dinner, ok?"

"Ok Mom. I will try to be home by dinner." Kairi agreed before hanging up her phone, but not before telling her mother she loved her and goodbye.

"So it was just a joke?" Roxas asked, after she hung up.

"Yeah, an evil joke from the evil mind of my stupid brother," Kairi growled. "He is going to pay for that."

"I'm sure he will." Roxas said, sitting up on the air mattress. "Well, what are we going to do until you have to go home?"

"I don't know. We could go to the park, or to the movies." She mused.

"The park sounds good, besides we watched movies last night. Just let me get changed and then we will run by your house and then head to the park." Roxas suggested getting off the air mattress and helping Kairi to her feet.

"Ok that sounds good. I will be waiting downstairs." Kairi smiled as she walked out of the boy's bedroom.

Roxas quickly grabbed some clothes and changed into them. He also grabbed a surprise out of his closet. Roxas jumped down the stairs, only to find Kairi talking with his sister, Namine. They were looking through her sketchbook.

"Wow, Namine, you are amazing." Kairi spouted. "Those trees look almost real."

"Why thank you," Namine giggled, as she looked up to see her brother.

"Good morning Roxas," she greeted. "Did you two sleep good?"

Roxas just glared at his sister. She just smiled back at him before turning back to Kairi.

"Well I will be sure to show you more the next time you come over." She smiled at the red- headed girl next to her.

Kairi's eyes widened, "That would be great. I can't wait!"

Kairi met Roxas at the front door. She immediately noticed the bag that he had thrown over her shoulder.

"What's with the bag?" She asked poking at it like it was going to start moving.

"It's a surprise," he laughed.

"Aww… tell me. Please??" Kairi begged, giving Roxas her best put face.

"No. It won't be a surprise if I told you," Roxas countered before stealing a kiss from her cute pouting face. "You'll see what it is when we get to the park."

They stepped out of Roxas' house only to find that it was breezy outside. Kairi shivered as the breeze hit her arms, covered in light fabric. She hoped that Roxas hadn't noticed, but he did. Before she knew it Roxas had taken off his jacket and had wrapped it around her shoulders.

"It's ok Roxas. I'm not really that cold anyway." She tried to protest, while Roxas just laughed.

"You're so stubborn Kairi. You know that right?" He laughed, "And I wouldn't be much of a boyfriend if I let my girl freeze, now would I?"

Kairi blushed. "Fine, I will wear it for now but when we get to my house, I'm getting my own coat."

"I wouldn't expect any less." Roxas shrugged as he put his arm around her waist.

A little bit after this, they had reached Kairi's house. She opened the door hoping that no one was home, luckily there wasn't anyone home. Roxas waited in the living room while Kairi ran to her room to get changed. She came back a few minutes later dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

"You ready to go? She asked the blond haired boy while grabbing her coat off the coat rack.

"Yeah all set," he replied walking out the door and waiting for her to close and lock it. They then set off for the park that was near her house.

It was still breezy when they reached the park. Roxas set down the bag that he had brought with them.

"Are you ready for the surprise?" He asked with mischief written all over his face and flickering in his eyes.

"Of course I am," Kairi exclaimed.

She watched in excitement as he pulled a large kite out of the bag. Roxas untangled the string and handed the spool of thread to Kairi, as she giggled in excitement. Roxas took off running with the kite while Kairi held tightly to the string.

Suddenly, Roxas let go of the kite. It flew up, up and away until it was taunt on the spool that Kairi held. He ran back to where Kairi was standing, staring up at the kite floating gracefully in the sky.

"This is so much fun!" She exclaimed. "I haven't done this since I was little."

"I know," Roxas laughed. "I always find it fun to do things like when I was little. It makes me feel young again."

They watched the kite float through the sky. All of a sudden the kite took a dive towards the ground.

"Quick Kairi run!" Roxas yelled as he took off.

Kairi started running after Roxas with the spool in her hands. She took her eyes off where she was running to glance at the kite, for one second, when she ran into Roxas. The crash sent them both flying towards the ground.

Roxas protectedly wrapped his arms around Kairi as they fell. They rolled along the grass until they finally rolled to a stop. Kairi finally opened her eyes to find that she was lying on top of Roxas. Upon realizing the position that they were in, Kairi immediately turned a dark shade of red.

Roxas gazed up into Kairi's indigo eyes. She smiled down at him. He still had his arms wrapped around her waist and her hands were resting near his face. She cupped his face as she leaned down towards it. He smiled as he leaned forward to meet her part way. They lips were almost touching.

"What are you two doing?" A voice asked suggestively.

The question made Kairi jump and she quickly rolled off of Roxas.

"N… No… Nothing!" She stuttered.

"Sure you weren't doing anything," the voice kidded.

Kairi suddenly recognized the voice. It was her brother, Riku. Upon realizing this she blushed another 8 shades of red, and Roxas started laughing at their predicament.

"We really weren't doing anything, Riku." Kairi squeaked.

"That's not what it looked like from my viewpoint," he squeaked back, obviously making fun of his sister's embarrassment.

"We were just flying a kite and had to run to try to keep it in the air and I tripped and Roxas caught me," she tried to explain.

"And you decided to thank him with a kiss, right?" Riku finished for her.

"Noo…" She squeaked, hiding her head in her hands.

It took a couple minutes for her to regain her composure. "Well besides stalking us, what are you doing here, Riku?"

"Enjoying the park." Riku answered, gesturing with his arms to the rest of the park. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, there isn't, but could you enjoy it somewhere else?" She laughed.

"Of course, my dear sister. I will let you two get back to what you were doing." He teased as he walked away, but not before winking at the young couple.

Kairi just covered her face with her hands. She had been so embarrassed that she forgot that she was angry with her brother. Roxas wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She leaned into his shoulder until she started laughing. It didn't take long for the both of them to be reduced to a laughing pile of tangled limbs. It got to the point where neither of them could breathe.

Once they were breathing and conscious again, they realized that Kairi needed to get home for dinner. Roxas got up first and offered his hand to Kairi. She accepted and he pulled her up off the ground and into his arms where they both stole a kiss from one another.

They then gathered up the kite and the bag. They walked arm in arm to Kairi's house. When they reached her house they started to say goodbye to each other and that they would see at school on Monday, but Kairi had a different idea. She grabbed Roxas by his collar and pulled him into a passionate kiss and then sent him on his way to his house as she entered her house.

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_Author Note: Well that is chapter 2. Hope it was ok. Reviews are helpful and they tend to make my day. But the way… I had to make up some words. I hope there weren't too many like that. Please ignore the two that I KNOW are made up. There just wasn't any other word that seemed to fit the situation._


	3. Chapter 3

Author Note: Well here is chapter 3

_Author Note: Well here is chapter 3. I hope that no one is really confused about the timeline… If any questions occur feel free to message me with them and I will try to answer them for you._

**Disclaimer: **I still own nothing but the plot…

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Skin: Chapter 3

4th Week of April

Another week passed and on Monday morning, Kairi realized that the bruise on her knee still hadn't gone away; in fact it had gotten slightly bigger. She decided that it was time to tell her mom about it. She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where she found her mom.

"Mom, can we talk?" She whispered.

"Sure honey. Is something wrong?" Her mother asked. It took one look in her daughter's eyes to know that something was wrong.

"I'm not sure." Kairi sounded so unsure, and she was walking back and forth, switching her weight on both feet.

"Well sit down and we'll figure it out," her mom comforted, while patting one of the open chairs at the dining table.

Kairi sat down and just put her head down on the table. Her mom gently rubbed her back, while patiently waiting until Kairi decided to talk.

"You remember when I fell a couple weeks ago? Well I got a bruise from it on my knee, and well, I have been watching it." Kairi stopped to look at her mom, "And it is still there and it's growing bigger."

"Well maybe you just keep hitting your knee and that is why it is getting bigger," her mom suggested.

"NO! I haven't hit my knee since that day," at this point Kairi was crying. "I just don't know what is wrong with me."

"Well if you want, I can make you an appointment with the doctor and we can find out what is wrong together?" Her mom asked as a few tears rolled down her own cheeks.

Kairi looked back at her mom and nodded.

"Ok, I'll go call them now and see when we can get the earliest appointment." Her mom stated getting up from the table and walking to the living room the where the phone was.

Kairi was left sitting at the table, waiting. She put her head back down on the table and waited. She was only waiting a couple of minutes but it felt like hours, when her mother finally came back into the kitchen.

"The earliest appointment that they had open was today at 2. I will have to take you out of school. Is that ok?" her mom told her.

"Yeah, that is fine. I hate to miss art, but I would rather miss the class I love then not find out what is wrong with me." She smiled as she got up from the table to head to school.

Kairi slowly walked to school. She had her head hung low as she tried to figure out what was going on in her life.

"Hey Kia." Roxas greeted the red-head as she walked in the school.

"Oh hi," she responded.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asked, suddenly concerned by her unusual lack of energy.

"Nothin'. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind." She smiled.

He walked with her to her locker. They didn't say anything until she had closed her locker.

"Is there anything that you want to talk about, Kairi?" Roxas asked.

"Not at this time," she quietly responded back to him, but he noticed that she wouldn't look into his eyes.

"Well ok," he muttered, feeling a little hurt.

Just then the bell rang and they had to split up to go to their respective classes. Kairi looked up to see Roxas turn and begin to walk away.

"Roxas," she called. "Can we talk about something at lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," he looked back at her.

Lunch came too soon for Kairi and took too long to come for Roxas. He couldn't stop the different ideas as to why Kairi had been so down and wanted to talk to him from floating through his head. If anyone was to ask him what was talked about in his classes, he wouldn't have been able to tell them, because he didn't listen at all. He was lucky that none of his teachers called on him to answer a question.

Roxas walked over to the lawn to where Kairi was sitting. It was a beautiful day, so they had decided to eat outside. She looked up at him and smiled a weak smile.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to his girlfriend.

"Hi," she responded, almost too quietly to be heard. Silence descended to over them.

"So," he started, while looking around, before his eyes descended on Kairi. "What's going on?"

His question sliced through the thoughts that were occupying her mind. Her head shot up to share at him.

"I'm… I'm not really sure," Kairi choked, before looking away from Roxas.

"Well, let's try to figure it out, ok?" He said, gently cupping her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"Ok," she sighed. "It started a couple of weeks ago; I fell and must have hit my knee and got a bruise. Well it hasn't gone away yet; in fact it keeps getting bigger."

By this point, Kairi had broken into tears again. Concern covered Roxas face as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Mom… got me an appointment… with the doctor later today, so… hopefully they will be able to tell me what's wrong." Kairi gasped between sobs.

"Will you call me when you get home from the doctor?" Roxas questioned.

"Of course, I will probably need someone to talk to." Kairi sniffed, the tears starting to subside.

"I will be waiting," Roxas whispered in her ear as the bell to end lunch rang.

He got up and pulled her to her feet. After gathering their stuff, Roxas and Kairi walked back into the school. They ended up by her locker again.

"So… you'll call me, right?" Roxas asked, watching people pass by in the hallway.

"Yea, I'll be sure to," Kairi sighed.

Roxas locked eyes with Kairi and noticed there was a tear rolling down her cheek. He reached forward and whipped it away with his thumb. The gentle action earned him a small smile from Kairi.

"Well, I better get going. Don't want to be late to class." Kairi forced out with a smile, before walking away.

Roxas was about to walk away when he found himself pushed against the lockers behind him. Once his eyes uncrossed from the surprise attack, he noticed who his attacker was.

"Selphie! What the hell is wrong with you?" He questioned, completely surprised.

"Why did you do it?" She asked, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Why did I do what?" He asked back, becoming even more confused.

"Why did you hurt Kairi? I thought that you loved her."

"I do love her, and I did nothing to hurt her." Roxas pleaded.

"Then why was she crying today? Especially when you two were eating lunch. I have never seen her so sad before." Selphie's anger had now switched to concern for her friend.

"She is having some issues that have her upset and I don't know if she wants me talking about them." Roxas confessed.

"Oh, well is she ok?" Selphie asked.

"I hope so," Roxas sighed, as the two friends entered their classroom.

Eventually 2 o'clock rolled around and Kairi's mom picked her up from school. They drove in silence to the doctor's office. They didn't have to wait long to be called into the examination room.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Aerith Johnson. What seems to be the problem today?" The doctor asked when she entered the room.

"Hello Doctor. I'm Mrs. Peterson and this is my daughter, Kairi." He mom responded.

"Hi," Kairi muttered.

"Go on Kairi, tell her what is wrong." Mrs. Peterson urged.

Kairi took a deep breath to get ready to tell the same story for the third time in one day. "Well a couple of weeks ago, I fell and got a bruise. And don't bruises usually go away after a couple of days?"

The doctor nodded.

"Well this one hasn't gone away. In fact, it has gotten bigger and I know that I haven't hit is since that day."

Kairi was close to crying but she refused to look weak.

"Well let's take a look at this bruise." Dr. Johnson smiled

Kairi smiled as well as she reached to roll up the left leg of her jeans. Dr. Johnson ran her hand over the bruise and looked back up at Kairi.

"We will have to run some tests to try to figure it out. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I just want to know what is going on with me." Kairi stated.

The doctor did multiple tests on Kairi including blood tests and a skin scraping of the bruise. She reached over to the cabinet, and took out a razor to do the scrapping and Kairi's eyes went wide.

"This is going to hurt a little," Dr. Johnson told her.

Kairi gritted her teeth and nodded for the doctor to continue. Dr. Johnson processed to do the scrapping. Kairi kept her teeth clenched and silently cried through the pain. Dr. Johnson finished the scrapping and gently wrapped Kairi's knee to stop the bleeding, even though it wasn't bleeding that much.

"We'll know the results in a couple of days. We will call you when they come it." She said, taking off her gloves and washing her hands.

Dr. Johnson walked Kairi and her mother to the door to see them off. The drove home in silence and when they got home Kairi went straight to her room. She sat down on her bed and reached for her phone. She just sat there, cradling her phone. She knew that she needed to call Roxas. Finally, she worked up the courage and dialed his number.

"Roxas? It's Kairi," she softly spoke into her phone.

"Hey. How did it go today?" He asked.

"It went ok, I guess." Kairi sighed. "Can we meet up somewhere?"

"Yea, of course. Where do you want to meet at?" Roxas answered back, sitting up in his bed.

"I don't care, I just want to get out of this house."

"How 'bout the park?" Roxas suggested, slipping on his shoes.

"That would be great," Kairi exhaled. "See you there in a few."

With that, they both hung up and left their respective houses. Roxas got to the park first. He decided to wait under the large oak tree in the center of the park. Kairi got to the park a little bit after Roxas.

When she saw him leaning against the tree, she took off running. He noticed her and opened his arms to catch her. She ran into his arms and hugged his waist tightly. They stayed like that for a while until Kairi pulled away. She looked up at Roxas and he noticed her eyes. He noticed that they were no longer filled with wonder, but instead with fear.

"What happened at the doctor's office?" He asked as they walked around the park.

"Well, she was really nice and I felt like she really wanted to take care of me. They basically did some tests and then Mom and I went home." Kairi concluded.

"Well, what did the tests say?" Roxas expressed with curiosity.

"Don't know," Kairi replied, absent mindedly. "We won't know for about a week."

At this point, they had walked to Kairi's house. They parted here because they both had homework they needed to get done. Kairi didn't finish hers because she was exhausted.

Her brother came in to ask her how her appointment went, to find her asleep at her desk. He was home from school because his classes had been canceled for that day. He gently picked her up and moved her to her bed.

"Sleep good Kairi," Riku whispered as he tucked his little sister into bed.

* * *

_Author Note: Well I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. Remember that reviews are helpful to the person who wrote the story… aka reviews are helpful to me and they make my day._


	4. Chapter 4

Mystic Note: Chapter 4… wow… I didn't realize how much I had actually written… Hope you all enjoy this chapter

_Mystic Note: Chapter 4… wow… I didn't realize how much I had actually written… Hope you all enjoy this chapter._

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but the plot and the notebook that it is written in…

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Skin: Chapter 4

Several days had passed with no news from the doctor's office. Friday rolled along and Kairi was getting more and more nervous about the results. She had been feeling extremely tired in the last few days. As she rushed into her house, the phone was ringing. She rushed to go answer it.

"Hello, Peterson Residence," she answered.

"Hi, this is Dr. Johnson's office, calling with some test results. Is Mrs. Peterson there?" The nurse responded.

Kairi thought for a moment before deciding to be her mother. Besides the results were about her, she thought.

"This is her," Kairi answered, trying to sound older than she was, while walking into the kitchen.

"Well Mrs. Peterson, the results came back on your daughter's tests. We have some bad news for you and we would like to have you two come back in for a personal consultation," the nurse explained, completely unaware that she had just told Kairi that her results were bad.

"Sure we can come in again." Kairi suggested, still pretending to be her mom. "I will have to see when my daughter wants to come in again."

"Just call us back with the time and day and we will see when we can fit you in." The nurse stated.

"Ok, I can do that." Kairi responded, as she was about to hang up.

"Oh, and Mrs. Peterson, the sooner you and your daughter came back in the better for your daughter's health." The nurse cautioned before hanging up.

Kairi just stared at the phone while she sank to the kitchen floor. Eventually the phone slipped from her hands, as she started to shake. She replayed the nurse's words over and over in her head.

"I'm going to die." She said out loud, to no one in particular.

Riku had just gotten home and walked into the kitchen. There he found his sister sitting on the floor. She was looking absently at nothing in particular.

"Kairi, what happened?" Riku shouted, rushing to his sister's side.

His voice snapped Kairi out of her daze and she turned to look at her brother. "I'm going to die." She confessed, bursting into tears.

Riku quickly wrapped his arms around his little sister. "What are you talking about Kairi?" He asked, very concerned.

"The doctor just called and said that they had some bad news. That can only mean one thing." Kairi cried. "I'm going to die."

Riku's heart just broke at seeing his sister lose all hope.

"You're not going to die for a really long time." He said, slowly rubbing Kairi's back as they sat on the cold tiled floor.

Mrs. Peterson got home a few minutes later. She walked into the kitchen with the groceries, only to find her children sitting on the floor. One look at Kairi told her that the doctor had called.

"They weren't suppose to tell you anything!" She exclaimed, almost dropping the groceries that she was carrying. "I specifically asked them not to tell you anything. I knew you would take it better if it was coming from me."

"They really didn't tell me anything. They just told me that they had some bad news." Kairi confessed. "I told them that I was you."

"Why would you do that?" her mother yelled.

At being yelled at, Kairi flew to her feet, anger flashing in her tired eyes. "I told them that because it is my life and I want to know what is wrong." She yelled back.

Riku got up slowly and grabbed his sister in his arms. She fought against him for a couple of minutes, until she just went limp and crying in his arms.

"Calm down. Both of you." He stated, looking at both his mother and sister. "The first thing we have is to do is call the doctor back with a time that is good for both of you for the appointment. Then we need to call dad and tell him to come home from his business trip."

Both Kairi and her mom looked at Riku. They calmed down after awhile. Her mom called the doctor's office and got an appointment for Monday. Kairi then called her dad.

"Hello, Peterson here," her dad answered.

"Hey Dad. It's me," she said, not really sure what to say.

"Hey Honey. How's it going?" Mr. Peterson questioned.

"Not to well," she confessed. "Can you come home early?" Kairi asked, hopeful.

"Aww, do you miss your old man?" He joked. "Why do you want me to come home sweetly?"

"You could say that," Kairi sighed. "Dad, I'm really sick and the doctor thinks it serious."

There was silence on the other end as her dad tried to process what his daughter had said. "Is your mother there?" He finally asked.

"Yeah," Kairi said, softly.

"Put her on for me, will you? Her dad asked. "Don't worry Kai, I'll try my hardest to get there for you. I love you. Don't ever forget that."

"Thanks Dad. I love you too." Kairi said goodbye and handed the phone to her mother, who left the room with the phone.

Her mom came back in the room a little bit later. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. Kairi didn't say anything about what was going on. She just got up off the couch and ran out of the house.

Her mom tried to stop her, but Riku shook his head not to. Kairi ran until she was out of breath. She stopped running to catch her breath and looked up to see that she was in front of Roxas' house and he was sitting on the porch. He looked up to see her walking up the steps.

"Kairi, what are you doing here?" He asked surprised.

"I'm not really sure, but can you just hold me for a little while?" She asked, sounding broken.

Roxas immediately made room for her on the swing. She sat down and leaned into him as he wrapped his arm around her. She didn't have to tell him, but he knew she had gotten some news from the doctor.

"What did they say?" He asked, pulling her closer.

"They didn't really say. Only that they had bad news and that they want Mom and me to come back in." She sighed.

"When?" He asked.

"Monday morning," she answered.

"Call me afterwards?" Roxas questioned.

"Naturally," Kairi smiled, happy to have someone to listen to her.

Roxas held Kairi in his arms for a couple of hours, neither saying much. Kairi finally noticed that it was getting dark.

"Well, I better get going," Kairi stood slowly.

"Ok, but I am walking you home." Roxas stated.

True to his word, Roxas walked Kairi home. When they reached her house, he pulled her close in a hug, and gave her a sweet kiss.

"I'm always here for you, Kairi," Roxas told her as her was walking away. "Remember that."

"I will. And Roxas, thanks." Kairi smiled as she entered her house.

Several hours later found Kairi sitting on the roof outside her window. She was sitting there trying to figure out what was happening in her life. She noticed that there was a car pulling into the driveway. She quickly climbed back into her room and ran downstairs.

"Dad! You're here!" She exclaimed, hugging her father tightly.

"Of course I am. You needed me. Now go back to bed, we'll talk in the morning." Her dad smiled. "Oh and no more sitting on your roof tonight, ok?"

Kairi laughed as she headed back up the stair. "Ok Dad, night."

* * *

_Mystic Note: Well I know that this chapter was kinda short, sorry about that. But on a side note… I updated two chapters in a one day. Anyway, like always reviews are helpful and I like opening my email to find reviews waiting for me. Thanks for reading._


	5. Chapter 5

Mystic Note: Wow, I can't believe that I am already typing chapter 5 for this story

_Mystic Note: Wow, I can't believe that I am already typing chapter 5 for this story. I said in the beginning that this was going to be a song fic and in this chapter that is going to start. The song is going to be in italics and centered. I did have to change a couple of words in the song to make it fit this story. The word that I changed was Sarah to Kairi. It wasn't a big change but a change none the less. I hope that doesn't deter people from reading this chapter… Anyway, Enjoy._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters… Nor do I own the song… The song belongs to Rascal Flatts and we all know who owns the characters…

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Skin: Chapter 5

5th Week of April/ 1st Week of May

Kairi woke up Monday morning with her stomach doing somersaults. She walked down the stairs to find her family waiting for her. She knew what they were waiting for and she was ready for the day, at least as ready as she could be.

Her dad stood up to greet her at the stairs. He pulled her into a tight hug as he whispered in her ear. "It will be ok, Sweetie. We're all here for you."

_Kairi Beth is scared to death_

_To hear what the doctor will say_

_She hasn't been well since the day that she fell_

_And the bruise just won't go away._

Kairi and her family, excluding Riku because he had to go back to school, got into their car and headed to the doctor's office. They walked into the waiting room. Mrs. Peterson had her arm wrapped around Kairi's shoulder to give her comfort and strength.

_So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad_

_And flips through an old magazine _

_Till the nurse with the smile stands at the door_

_And says 'Will you please come with me?'_

"Kairi Peterson," the nurse called.

Kairi and her parents stood and went with the nurse. This time they were lead to a different room. It wasn't an examination room but a room that was more like a living room. Kairi looked around this room, from her position on the couch, and could tell that the news could only be bad if they were trying to make her and her family comfortable.

They were only waiting a couple of minutes when Dr. Johnson entered the room. Kairi watched as she greeted her parents, then Dr. Johnson turned to her and smiled.

"We got the test results back." Dr. Johnson stated.

"I know," Kairi's mom said. "What did they say?"

"Well her chances are good for recovery because we caught the disease in time," the doctor told them.

At this point Kairi's parents and the doctor had been talking to each other about Kairi. She was getting angry because of that. She didn't like the fact that they were talking like she wasn't even there.

"ENOUGH!" She yelled.

Her sudden outburst startled her parents and the doctor. All three of them turned to look at her.

"The test results are about me. That means that you should be telling me, not my parents." Kairi scolded. "Now I want to know the results with no sugar coating."

Her parents and Dr. Johnson just stared at her for a minute or two. Finally, the doctor snapped out of it.

"You know what Kairi, you're absolutely right," Dr. Johnson frowned while she took Kairi's hands.

"Kairi, you have cancer."

Kairi's heart dropped and her breath hitched in her throat.

"Cancer?" She asked stunned.

_Kairi Beth is scared to death_

_Cause the doctor just gave her the news_

_Between the red cells and white, something not right_

_But we're gonna take care of you._

"I'm afraid so. But we caught it in time, so you're chances are good." Dr. Johnson told Kairi in an upbeat voice.

"But… but I am only 18. How can I have cancer?" Kairi stuttered, still unable to comprehend the fact that she had cancer.

"I know it's hard to understand. But the type of cancer occasionally affects adolescents such as yourself." The doctor tried to comfort. "This type is called Melanoma and it is a type of skin cancer. Although it is horrible, it is not at all surprising that you got it, considering that you fit all the risk factors."

"Risk Factors?" Kairi asked, confused as to how she could fit the risk factors for something as evil as cancer.

"Yes, risk factors," the doctor agreed. "They include exposure to natural sunlight, being white and older then 20 years old, red or blond hair, while or light-colored skin and freckles and blue eyes."

Kairi forced a laugh at this point. "Those do fit me."

"What are the options for treatment?" Mrs. Peterson broke in.

"Well we could surgically remove the affected area from her knee, or we could do chemotherapy and radiation therapy, or we could do both.

"What do you recommend we do?" Mrs. Peterson asked holding Kairi's hand.

_Six chances in ten, it won't come back again_

_With the therapy we're going to try_

_It's just been approved, it's the strongest there is_

_I think we caught it in time_

_And Kairi Beth just closes her eyes._

"I recommend that you do both, the surgery and the therapies." Dr. Johnson suggested. "That way you will have the best chance of completely removing the cancer."

At this point, Kairi had begun to shake. To her, her life was spiraling completely out of control. She decided that the best thing to do was to try to get back in control of it.

"I'm not sure that we need to be so drastic," Kairi's mom worried to her dad.

Kairi decided that she would be in control of her treatment. "I want all of it. The surgery, the chemo, and the radiation treatment, all of it. I want this cancer out of my body!" She directed.

Dr. Johnson took this opportunity to mention more about the treatments. "The combo of chemo and radiation is the newest treatment that is on the market. It seems to be the treatment that is working the best against melanoma."

Kairi and her family decided that they would start the treatment the next Monday. On that day, Kairi would have the surgery to remove the patch of skin where her bruise was. She then would start the other treatments when her wound healed in another week.

They got home late in the evening because they spent the whole day meeting with various people that would be involved in her treatments. Kairi sat down at her desk to do her homework. It took her longer to finish because of all the thoughts racking her brain. She crawled into bed that night neglecting to do one important thing, neglecting to call Roxas.

Tuesday in the 5th week of April

Kairi woke up the next day and decided that she would try not to let anyone find out about her cancer. She didn't want anyone treating her differently because of it, at least not yet.

She walked into Destiny Heights with a fake smile on her face. As soon as she turned the corner, she saw Roxas, waiting by her locker.

"You told me you would call," he said, not looking up.

"I'm sorry, but we got home late and I still had homework to do, and," Kairi tried to explain.

"Uh huh, so how did it got?" He asked, interrupting her.

"Fine. Everything 's fine," she lied while smiling.

"You're lying," Roxas glared, locking eyes with her. "I can see it in your eyes."

At this point, Kairi's smile fell from her face and shattered on the floor like broken glass. She looked up at him with fearful eyes.

"It's bad," she confessed. "Really bad. But I don't want people to know cause of how they will treat me."

Roxas just nodded. "You might want to put your smile back on then."

About that time, Selphie came up to Kairi. "Hey Kairi, are you doing better?"

"Yea, I'm doing great," Kairi lied as the two friends walked away.

Kairi looked back at Roxas and mouthed for him to meet her at the old oak tree in the park, after school. She hoped that he understood because she really needed to talk to someone, correction, she really needed to talk to him.

School passed slowly for both of them, and neither paid much attention to their lessons. They were too busy trying to keep their emotions in check. There was a few times when Kairi caught a tear either threatening to fall or rolling down her cheek. This did not go unnoticed by her friends, especially Selphie.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Selphie had cornered Kairi after school, demanding an answer.

"Nothing Selphie," Kairi protested.

"You see, you can't lie to me, Kairi. We've known each other too long and I can see it in your face that something bad has happened."

Kairi mentally scolded herself for not being able to hide her emotions better. "Ok, Selphie, something bad has happened, but I don't really want to talk about it yet." Kairi whispered.

"I see," Selphie comforted while pulling Kairi into a hug. "Well, when you are ready to talk, I am here, ok?"

Kairi nodded as she watched Selphie was away. She took in the empty hallway and realized that she shouldn't be pushing people away; she shouldn't make herself isolated, especially from her close friends. She chuckled to herself when she then realized people in her situation seem to push away the people that are close to them.

She took off running, at that point, out the doors, down the street, and into the park. She didn't stop running until she reached their tree. Roxas hadn't arrived yet, so Kairi sat down to wait for him. She leaned her head back against the bark of the tree and closed her eyes. She didn't notice that she fell asleep until something warm brushed her cheek.

Her eyes flew open only to be met crystal blue ones staring back at her. She smiled at Roxas as he sat down next to her. Kairi leaned her head onto Roxas' shoulder, her eyes closing again.

Roxas wrapped his arm around her body and pulled her closer. He let her sleep on his arm until she slipped off of it. Her head landed softly in his lap, causing him to chuckle. He managed to slip of her coat and laid it over her shoulders so that she wouldn't get cold

They stayed like that for about an hour, until Kairi's eyes fluttered open again. At first she was confused as to where she was but then she remembered that she was with Roxas. She rolled over until she could look up at Roxas.

"Did you sleep well?" Roxas asked to girl in his lap, after noticing she was awake.

"Yes," she shyly smiled.

"Good, I'm glad that I could be such a good pillow," he joked, earning himself a light slap to the head.

Kairi laughed at his reaction to her slap. "You can't tell me that that hurt?"

"It didn't," Roxas laughed, before getting serious. "So, what happened at the doctor's office?"

Kairi's smile quickly left her face and she turned her head away from Roxas' sight. Roxas gently turned her face back to his. They both had tears pricking at their eyes.

"Talk to me, Kairi," was all he had to say before her tears over-flowed from her eyes.

Kairi thought for a moment, as tears continued to flow, before deciding to just state what was wrong as directive as she could. She locked eyes with Roxas.

"I have cancer, Roxas." She blurted out. "They gave me an 8 in 10 chance of having a full recovery."

"Cancer," was all Roxas could muster to say.

"Yeah," Kairi answered with a sniffle. "And next Monday, I go in for surgery to remove the bruise."

"Surgery!" Roxas yelled, completely unable to think clearly anymore.

"Yeah," Kairi shivered, "And I'm scared, Roxas. Really scared."

Roxas pulled Kairi into a sitting position. Once there, he grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake.

"You have every right to be scared. But I am here for him and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." Roxas stated, before pulling the crying girl into a tight hug.

* * *

_Mystic Note: Ahh I am so sorry Kairi… Sorry I gave you cancer… Anyway that was chapter 5. I had to do research of melanoma and those are really some of the risk factors for it… how ironic… Well I hope that it was at least a little enjoyable to read. Like always, reviews are helpful._


	6. Chapter 6

Mystic Note: Well here is chapter 6

_Mystic Note: Well here is chapter 6. I apologize again for giving Kairi cancer. Like I have said before I don't hate Kairi. She is one of my favorite characters of the game._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, or the song, but I do own the binder that the hand written version of this story is in.

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Skin: Chapter 6

2nd Week of May

Kairi lay in her bed on Monday morning, hugging herself. She didn't want to get out of bed. She didn't want to go to the hospital. She didn't want to have surgery. She didn't want to be sick.

"Kairi, dear, we need to get going. We don't want to be late." Her mother called up the stairs.

Kairi winced at those words her mom had just said, that they shouldn't be late. Late for the worse day of her life.

She forced herself out of her bed, out of her safe place. When she was in her bed and asleep, she was safe from all her problems and worries. She was safe to be herself.

Kairi dressed for the day, knowing that what she wore wouldn't matter. Then she headed down the stairs to where her parents waiting for her. The drive to the hospital was excruciating on her. Her parents were talking quietly to each other, which left her to stare out the window. All she could do was watch the clouds and the world pass her by. Before she knew it, she was laying on a hospital bed, being wheeled into the operating room.

"Ok, Kairi, we're going to start to put you under. We want you to count back from 13. Can you do that for us?" The head nurse asked, while smiling sweetly.

"Thirteen . . . twelve . . . eleven . . . ten . . ." Kairi counted, watching the overhead light. "Nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . ."

Kairi felt her eyes growing heavy. She blinked several times, trying to stay awake as long as she could.

"Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . ."

Kairi's eyes closed on their own accord and she was off and running into dreamland, while the doctor's performed the surgery of removing her bruise. They covered the area with a graph from her thigh. They bandaged her leg and prepared to wake Kairi up. The surgery had only taken 2 hours. The current time was about 1:15 in the afternoon.

Kairi's eyes fluttered under her eyelids as she started to wake up. She became vaguely aware that there were other people in the room with her. She also became that someone was holding her hand. Kairi opened her eyes to find that the person holding her hand was Roxas. He smiled a wide grin when she saw that she was awake.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, while stroking her hand with his thumb.

"Like I've been hit by a truck," Kairi smiled. "What time is it?"

"I bet. Uh it's about 1:20 in the afternoon," he smiled, knowing what her reaction would be.

"WHAT? Why are you not in school?" Kairi scolded.

"Cause I wanted to be here for you when woke up. Cause you are more important to me then one day of school." Roxas laughed.

Roxas stayed with her as long as he could. Finally the nurses said that he had to leave because visiting hours were over. He gave her a quick kiss, before he left her.

Kairi came home the next day and spent it on her parents couch, watching cartoons. She hoped that nobody at school had found out about her surgery. She didn't need their pity. Roxas came over after school to see how she was doing. He decided to play nurse to her and waited on her hand and foot.

"You don't have to do that, Roxas." Kairi protested, as Roxas fluffed her pillow.

"I may not have to, but I want to," he grinned.

"You better be careful Roxas, I might get use to this treatment." Kairi giggled.

3rd Week of May: Monday

Another week passed and Kairi was back in the hospital. Her wound from the surgery had healed and she had been able to hide the fact that she had cancer from everyone at school. She was to have her first dose of chemo today.

She sat in the cushioned chair as the nurse inserted the needle into her hand. She had brought her homework to do because she was going to be waiting for a while. She paused from the math problem that she was working on to glance around the treatment room. She noticed that she was the youngest patient there. She just shook her head and went back to the problem.

The door to the treatment room slowly opened and all the patients, including Kairi, looked up to see who it was. There in the doorway stood Selphie and behind her stood Roxas. Kairi could only stare, shocked, at the sight of both of them, as they walked over to her.

"Hey Kairi," Selphie greeted with a smile.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, still surprised to see Selphie.

"Well, I knew something was wrong," she started.

"And she cornered me and demanded an answer," Roxas finished for her. "I had no choice but to tell her everything."

Kairi let out a laugh at his problem. "Well, I am glad that you both are here," she smiled. "I was getting bored doing math."

The three friends chatted about random things until the nurse came in to check on them. She took the needle out of Kairi's hand since her chemo session was over. Roxas and Selphie walked Kairi home and stayed awhile, still talking about what had happened in their lives and what they hoped would happen. After Selphie left, Roxas sat with Kairi in the couch. They were watching a ghost show on T.V.

"So, are you excited about prom?" He asked suddenly, out of nowhere.

"Of course I am," Kairi smiled. "I have been excited about it since you asked me."

"I'm glad you're excited. That makes me more excited." Roxas smiled as he kissed Kairi on the forehead.

4th Week of May: Friday

Almost two weeks passed and Kairi pulled herself out of her dreams. Her energy had been low after the long week that she had had. She sat up in her bed and slowly ran her hands through her raspberry hair. Her hands returned to in front of her face and a gasp escaped her lips.

There in her hands were clumps of her hair. She looked down at the pillow and there was more of her hair on it. Kairi broke into loud sobs as she held her hair to her chest. Her mom came running into the room to see what was wrong, but immediately understood.

_Kairi Beth is scared to death_

_As she sits holding her mom_

_Cause it would be a mistake for someone to take_

_A girl with no hair to the prom._

Kairi forced herself to get out of bed and to get dressed. She threw on a hat and went down stairs. Her mom watched as Kairi tried to force herself to eat some breakfast.

Kairi didn't want to go to school. She had been incredibly tired since she started chemo. She pulled herself to the door and opened it, only to find Roxas on the other side, hand raised, about to knock.

"Hey Kairi," Roxas greeted with a smile.

"Hey," she responded with broken eyes.

Roxas noticed that the gleam had left her eyes. He stepped forward and hugged her while she quietly shook with tears. They set off for school together.

The day passed slowly and Kairi hated it. She use to love school but now she dreaded it. Her classmates noticed a change in her and many of her friends seemed intent on finding out what was wrong.

"What's wrong Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," she answered flatly.

"You don't expect us to believe that?" Namine added.

"Nothing's wrong!" Kairi shouted before running away from the group that was interrogating her.

Roxas walked up at about the time Kairi was running away. He called to her, but she kept running. He turned back to face their other friends, glaring at them.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"Nothing, we just noticed that she doesn't seem herself lately. We just wanted to know what was wrong." Sora confessed.

"Now we know something is wrong and that there is something that the two of you are not telling us," their other friend Olette injected.

Roxas just shook his head. He knew that Kairi wouldn't want him to tell them, but he didn't want them questioning her anymore. She didn't need the extra stress.

"Alright," he sighed. "She is really sick and it is hurting her both emotionally and physically. Now you need to let her be and try not to bring it up. If she wants to talk, she will. Don't push her."

"Sick? Sick with what?" Sora asked.

"I'm not going to say because it isn't my place. Just let her be." With that statement, Roxas turned and walked away in the direction that Kairi had run.

He didn't know where she had run to, but his heart lead him to the park, more specifically to their tree. As he walked up to it, he heard quiet sobs. He walked around the tree and found her hugging her knees.

"Kairi, what happened?" He asked, kneeling in front of her.

"Do you love me?" She asked suddenly.

"Of course I do," he answered, taken aback by her sudden question.

"Would you love me still if I had no hair?" She asked, staring straight into Roxas' eyes.

"Kairi, what brought this on?" he asked.

"Would you still love me?" She asked, with an urgent sense of needing to know in her voice.

"Kairi, I'm in love with you, not your hair. And in the words of one of my favorite songs, 'If it all fell out, I'd love you anyway,'" he quietly sang to her.

Kairi's frown grew into a large smile. She reached for his face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. When her hands found their way to his hair, she suddenly stopped and she pulled away. Roxas grabbed her wrist as she tried to leave.

"Why all the questions about your hair, Kairi?" He asked.

"Because the chemo is making it fall out," she blurted out while looking at the ground.

"Well what are you going to do?" He questioned.

"What do you mean?" She asked confused, looking up at him.

"Well, what are you going to do? Are you just going to let it continue to fall out or are you going to get rid of it all at once?" Roxas smirked.

"You mean like shave my head?" She questioned shocked.

"Yeah, I mean why not? That way you won't have to deal with losing it over time." Roxas stated, jumping to his feet.

He offered his hand to Kairi, which she accepted. Upon pulling her to feet, he gently pulled her to the business side of town. When they reached his destination, she started laughing. They were at a hair salon. Kairi sat in the salon chair, internally giggling at the shock on the hair stylist face.

"You want me to shave your head?" The stylist, whose nametag read Yuna, asked in shock and confusion.

"Yes, shave it all off," Kairi giggled. "You see I have cancer and the chemo is making it fall out bit by bit, so I decided to shave it all off."

"Ok," Yuna concluded, while reaching for her clippers.

Roxas held Kairi's hand while Yuna went to work on shaving her head. Kairi just stared at the mirror as her raspberry hair fell from her head. She never thought that she would ever share her head.

_For just this morning, right there on her pillow_

_Was the cruelest of any surprise_

_And she cried when she gathered all in her hands_

_The proof that she couldn't deny_

_And Kairi Beth closes her eyes._

Yuna only shook her head as the two teenagers left the salon, laughing. Never had she seen a girl so happy to have her head shaved.

_And she dreams she's dancing_

_Around and around without any cares_

_And her very first love if holding her close_

_And a soft wind is blowing her hair._

They shopped at a couple of stores, until they found a hat that Kairi liked. They then headed for Kairi's house. Kairi and Roxas reached Kairi's house and went inside. Her parents were surprised to find their daughter smiling and laughter coming out of her mouth.

"Wow, Kairi," Mrs. Peterson smiled. "You seem really happy today."

"I am," Kairi smiled as she remover her hat, laughing at her parents reactions.

"What did you do?" Her mother exclaimed.

"Well I decided that I didn't want it lose it over time so I just shaved had it shaved off." Kairi laughed.

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_Mystic Note: Yay! Chapter 6 is complete. I really don't have much to say about this chapter; other then there should be one more chapter to this story. Please Review._


	7. Chapter 7

Mystic Note: Well here it is, the last chapter to Skin

_Mystic Note: Well here it is, the last chapter to Skin. I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sky aka jcola0823. They have given the best reviews to this story and I really appreciate them. I love everyone who has read this story and especially those who have reviewed it. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this story, and I hoped you all enjoyed reading it._

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters that I abuse.

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Skin: Chapter 7

5th Week of May

Kairi felt great until she went to school the next Monday. Everyone was getting excited about prom which was that Friday. She had completely forgotten about prom when she had shaved her head. She was thankful that Roxas had convinced her friends to leave her alone about why she was acting different.

"So Kairi," Selphie stated. "Do you have your prom dress yet?"

"Not yet," Kairi told her. "Dad and I are going to look at dresses this afternoon, after school."

"Oh that is so sweet. I wish my dad would have taken me, but oh well." Selphie pouted.

"So you already have yours?" Kairi asked. "What does it look like?"

"Well, it's yellow and has sparkles all over it," was all Selphie got to say before the bell, signaling that lunch was over, rang.

The remainder of the day went by pretty fast for Kairi. By the time it was over, she was really excited about shopping with her dad. She was also nervous about how she was going to cover her head at prom.

She walked out the doors of the high school to find her dad waiting for her in his fire-engine red mustang convertible. She smiled as she got in and noticed the looks of jealousy on everyone's faces as they drove away.

Mr. Peterson and Kairi got to the store, Destiny Formal Wear, and Kairi just sat in the car. She wasn't so excited about shopping anymore.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Her dad asked.

"I'm not sure about this. I am going to have to take off my hat to try on the dresses and I am worried about people's reactions." She confessed.

"Well who cares what they think," her dad stated. "I think that you are beautiful no matter if you have hair or not."

"Thanks Dad," Kairi smiled as she got out of the car.

She looped her arm in her dad's as they entered the store. Kairi had never seen so many dresses in her life. She immediately took off to find the perfect dress for prom, her dad following close behind.

Finally, she made it to the dressing rooms. She had a pile of dresses in her arms of all the colors of the rainbow. She tried on a pale blue one first, but didn't like the way it flowed. Then she tired on some yellow ones, but decided that yellow was definitely Selphie's color.

"Come on, Kairi. I want to see them on you," her dad called.

"I haven't found any that I want to show you," Kairi called back.

Kairi tried on several more dresses that she had picked but didn't like any of them. She came out of the dressing room in a knee length blue dress. Her dad looked up at her as she walked past him.

"Where are you going?" He questioned.

"To go find some more dresses to try on." Kairi smirked, as she turned the corner.

She came back a few minutes later with another pile of shimmering and sparkly dresses. She went back into the dressing room and came back out with the other pile of dresses.

"Will you put these away for me Dad?" She asked, handing the dresses to her dad.

"Uhh… Sure," he said taking the said dresses and going to give them to an employee.

Kairi went back and started trying on the new dresses. She tried on a black one that had white on the inner part of the skirt. She went outside to show her dad. Neither one of them liked it very much, so she went to find another one.

Kairi reached the last dress in the pile. It was coral in color and had off-while flowers gracefully flowing down the front of it. The back had corset ties that laced up the back. She hoped it was "the dress" because she loved it already.

When Kairi walked out of the dressing room to show her father, his jaw dropped. He had never seen her look so beautiful, hair or no hair. Kairi smiled at his reaction because it was the proof that she needed that this was her dress. The dress even came with a wrap that she could easily wear on her head.

"Thanks so much for taking me shopping, Dad." Kairi thanked as they drove home.

"Your welcome dear," her dad smiled while squeezing her hand. "I just can't believe how grown up you are. It seems like just yesterday, I was walking you to your first day of preschool."

"Yeah, I remember that day. You didn't want to let go," Kairi giggled. "But you will always be a big part of my life, Dad."

"I know. And I am extremely proud of the woman you have become," her dad said, pulling into their driveway.

Mrs. Peterson met them at the door. "I want to see your dress Kairi," she exclaimed, excitedly.

"And you will," Kairi told her. "On Friday, when I am getting ready to go to prom."

At that, her mother started to pout and her dad just laughed.

Friday: Day of the Dance

Finally, it was Friday. The entire school was buzzing with the excitement of prom. Everyone was talking about either their dresses, make-up, or their dates.

Roxas came up behind her at lunch. He snaked his arms in front of her and gave her a black box. Slowly, she opened it and inside there was a gold chain necklace. The pendent in the necklace was a twist of gold. To Kairi it looked like the infinity sign plus half of that sign.

"Oh Roxas, it's gorgeous," she gushed, as he helped her put it on.

"I'm glad that you like it. It is one loop for each year we have been dating and looped together because we will always be tied together. Our destinies are intertwined." Roxas explained, causing Kairi to smile.

"I love it even more now," she grinned.

"Good. So how 'bout I pick you up at about 7 tonight? Is that a good time for you?" He asked.

"7 would be a great time." Kairi agreed. "I will try to be ready."

"Ok, I'll see you then," he said before giving her a kiss and heading to his locker and then to his class.

School ended and everyone rushed home to get ready for prom. Kairi really was in no hurry to get home. She was getting more nervous about having no hair. People at school knew that she was now bald and they knew the reason behind it. Surprisingly, more were very accepting of it and those who didn't accept it didn't matter to Kairi. She wished she could talk to Roxas but he was busy until later when he would come to get her.

She reached her house and her mother ushered her in. She had been waiting for this day since Kairi's first day of senior year.

"What time is Roxas picking you up? What make-up are you wearing? What shoes?" Her mother flooded her with questions.

"Slow down mom," Kairi scolded. "Roxas is picking me up at 7. I haven't decided on make-up yet and my shoes are with my dress."

Kairi, with the help of her mom, got ready for the prom. Mrs. Peterson couldn't believe how beautiful Kairi was. She was trying really hard to hold back her tears.

Kairi was in her room when she heard the front door open. She waited for her parents to call her but they never did. Instead her brother entered her room.

"Hey sis," he greeted, sitting down on her bed. "You look great tonight, but it's missing something."

"Thanks Riku," she smiled, doing a turn in her dress. "And what do you mean it's missing something?"

"It's missing this," Riku stated, pulling a hat out of his bag. The hat was like the old time hats with the lace and veil and it was a perfect coral color match with her dress.

"Oh Riku, it's gorgeous," she cried, as he helped her put it on. "But how did you know that my dress coral?"

"Dad told me, because he figured that I would have an easier time of finding it then he would have." Riku confessed.

"Awe, thank you," she sighed, pulling her brother into a hug.

Kairi heard the doorbell ring and she knew it was Roxas. She could hear her daddy greet him and her mom fawning all over the tux she knew he was wearing.

She walked to the top of the stairs and smiled down at them. Her mother broke into tears. Her dad snapped a few. Kairi glanced at Roxas and he was smiling up at her. As she descended the stairs, she couldn't help but admire how handsome he looked in his tux and top hat.

"You look… breathtaking!" Roxas stammered when she reached them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you," she giggled.

"You are most welcome," Roxas bowed, as he removed his hat.

As he did so, a gasp of surprise escaped Kairi's peach painted lips, as she reached towards his head.

_It's quarter to seven, that boy's at the door_

_And her daddy ushers him in_

_And when he takes off his cap_

_They all start to cry_

_Cause this morning where his hair had been_

_Softly she touches just skin._

"You… You shaved your head," she stuttered, tears flowing freely from her eyes and the eyes of her family.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to feel so bad at losing your hair," he smiled shyly.

"You did that for me?" Kairi cried as she stroked his smooth head with her fingertips.

Roxas nodded before offering Kairi his arm, while slipping his top hat back on. She gladly took it and waved good night to her family. They walked outside and there was his Thunderbird. She smiled when noticed that he had washed and waxed it for tonight. They got in and went to prom.

Kairi no longer worried about how that night or life after high school was going to go because she was going to enjoy every minute of it with her best friend and first true love.

_And they go dancing, around and around_

_Without any care_

_And her very first love is holding her close_

_And for a moment she isn't scared._

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_Mystic Note: Well there you go. The end of chapter 7 and also the end of this story. Big thanks to everyone who has read this story and an even bigger thanks to all those who reviewed. I can now get attacked but the plot bunny to get started on another story… tries to run away from the plot bunny but fails…_


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